The PennZone

ST. LOUIS - PennZone -- Constantine "Costa" Kapothanasis today announced that he has acquired The Lubri-Loy Company, Inc., the St. Louis-born lubricant maker in business since 1949. Kapothanasis is president and CEO of quick-lube operator Costa Oils Inc. and runs the Costa Filters performance filtration brand. He purchased 100% of the company from longtime owner David Graham through a private holding company. Terms were not disclosed.

Lubri-Loy keeps its name, its product line and the customer and distributor relationships it has built over decades. Company headquarters will remain in St. Louis, the city where Lubri-Loy was founded, with offices at the historic 701 Market Street. What changes is the ambition behind it.

"Lubri-Loy has been keeping American engines and machines running since Harry Truman was in the White House," said Kapothanasis. "You cannot build a 77-year-old brand. You can only inherit one and be worthy of it. My job is to protect what generations of customers have trusted and give this name the growth it has earned."

"Lubri-Loy has been a part of my life for a long time, and I was never going to hand it to someone who saw only a balance sheet," said David Graham. "Costa knows this industry, he respects where this brand came from, and he has the energy and the reach to take it places I could not. I cannot think of a better steward for the next 77 years."

Seventy-Seven Years in the Making

The Lubri-Loy name first went on a product in April 1949, according to the company's original federal trademark registration. That product was an oil additive, made in St. Louis, formulated to free sticky valves and cut engine friction. America was in the middle of its postwar car boom, and Lubri-Loy grew up alongside it.

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Through the 1950s and 1960s the company became a familiar St. Louis name. It advertised in the city's newspapers and expanded its plant at 6319 Wilson Avenue under president Gene Brenfleck. In 1958 it introduced Clean 'N Tune, a treatment for carburetors, spark plugs, valves and rings. In 1960 the brand crossed the border with the formation of Lubri-Loy Canada Ltd. in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Over the decades that followed, Lubri-Loy moved from the corner service station to the factory floor. Under David Graham, who led the company for more than two decades, it built out its industrial line and its export business in Asia. Today Lubri-Loy supplies industrial oils, greases, food-grade lubricants and maintenance chemicals to plants and distributors across the United States.

The promise has not changed in 77 years: premium lubricants, without premium prices.

A Place in American Automotive History

Lubri-Loy was born the same year as the modern American engine. Cadillac and Oldsmobile introduced their high-compression overhead-valve V8s for 1949, and NASCAR ran its first Strictly Stock race that June. Faster, tighter, hotter engines asked more of the oil inside them. Lubri-Loy was made for that moment.

Four years later the brand was at the Brickyard. On May 30, 1953, the No. 62 Lubri-Loy Special, a Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser driven by Joplin, Missouri, native Spider Webb, took the green flag from the 18th starting spot in the Indianapolis 500. The race is remembered as the "Hottest 500," run in heat so severe that relief drivers took over cars up and down the field. The Lubri-Loy Special was credited with 19th place, the best Indianapolis finish of Webb's career.

Because the Indianapolis 500 counted toward the World Drivers' Championship from 1950 through 1960, the Lubri-Loy Special still appears in Formula 1's official results.

Few independent lubricant brands can say they arrived at the dawn of the V8 era, raced at Indianapolis and are still shipping product 77 years later. Lubri-Loy can.

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The Next 77 Years

Kapothanasis plans to pair Lubri-Loy's heritage with the tools of a modern lubricants business. The first moves are already underway:

• A new look rooted in the old one. Lubri-Loy returns with a bold block-letter wordmark in black, white and orange, and with "Lubri-Loy Roy," the brand's mascot.
• A rebuilt lubriloy.com. The new site carries the full product catalog with spec sheets, a distributor locator, direct ordering and a heritage archive of the brand's vintage advertising and racing history.
• Lubri-U. A new training and product-knowledge platform gives the Lubri-Loy team courses, certifications and a single library of technical documents.
• A return to the service bay. Lubri-Loy plans to bring automotive products back to its line, starting in the more than 60 quick-lube locations operated by Costa Oils Inc.
• Continuity for industrial customers. Existing products, part numbers, ordering channels and distributor relationships remain in place.

"The history is the asset," Kapothanasis said. "The plan is simple. Keep every customer we have, tell the story this brand has earned, and put Lubri-Loy back in the hands of people who turn wrenches for a living. This company started under the hood of the American car. It belongs there again, and on every plant floor in the country."

About The Lubri-Loy Company

Founded in St. Louis in 1949 and still headquartered there, The Lubri-Loy Company supplies industrial oils, greases, food-grade lubricants and maintenance chemicals to manufacturers, maintenance teams and distributors. The brand began as an automotive oil additive, raced at the 1953 Indianapolis 500 and has served American industry for 77 years under one promise: Premium Lubricants, Without Premium Prices. Learn more at lubriloy.com.

The Lubri-Loy Company, 701 Market St, Ste 110, Saint Louis, MO 63101

About Constantine "Costa" Kapothanasis

Constantine "Costa" Kapothanasis is president and CEO of Costa Oils Inc., a Hanover, Pennsylvania company that operates more than 60 quick-lube locations across multiple states. He also runs Costa Filters, a performance filtration brand, and has a long record of motorsports marketing. Kapothanasis acquired The Lubri-Loy Company through a private holding company; Costa Oils Inc. is not a party to the transaction.